IndiaPost.com - Foreign, NRI students make a bee-line for Indian varsities

India Post News Service

NEW DELHI: Education sector in India is undergoing a makeover as the quantum leap in this year's figures of foreign admissions indicates. Gone are the days when Indian universities only attracted students from African and NAM countries. The latest trend shows that candidates from developed countries like Britain, US, France, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand and a large chunk of South East Asians are also viewing India as a prospective hub for higher studies.

New Delhi, famous for its universities is now being considered over several high profile universities of the West. As per the preliminary data available for this year, there are about 1500 foreign admissions in universities of Delhi. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has admitted 250 international students in its under and post- graduate courses. According to AS Narang, Foreign Students Advisor, DU, a majority prefer linguistic courses followed by engineering, management and medicine.

The 2007 admissions notice consists of a 25 percent seat reservation for international students (foreign, PIO card holders, NRI students and NRI sponsored). There are a variety of schemes like exchange programs, government scholarships and general entry which are available for the benefit of these candidates. Most Government and privately-owned universities such as Manipal, Amity, JNU, IIT, Birla Institute of Technology (BITS) and DU follow this system of reservations.

The newly-fangled concept - 'edutourism' is leading to aggressive marketing of India as a destination for professional educational to an extent wherein many institutes are providing 15 percent seats over and above the sanctioned amount. The NRI quota too was being used by private universities to mint money from the ones willing to pay a fat fee packet. But the recent step initiated by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in terms of "Scholarship Program for Diaspora students" has brought in some fresh air.

There was an era when first-rate higher education meant a ticket abroad. Over the years, infrastructure and educational facilities in India have improved, manifesting India into one of the most competently literate countries in the world. "India as an educational outpost is a perfect combination of affordable cost, high quality and the right opportunities" adds A S Narang. Talking to India Post, Stellar Mark, a student from US pursuing PHD at JNU said that since he came through an exchange program, India proved to be a cost-effective option.

"The education in the country is of comparable standards to other Western counterparts," observed Mark. In fact openness and easy accessibility to faculty are some of the other advantages. "The education here is qualitative and helps students to achieve a good post anywhere in the world. As for me, I am going to make big money back home" said the Foreign Students Association's President Khalid Abdullah, a Sudanese, laying emphasis on the future prospects of foreign students in India. Khalid also confirmed that there has been a rise in the inflow of foreign students over the past three years.

Other major reason of the inflow of students is the low cost of living that India offers. Adiem Poret, a French student at IIT pursuing Thermal Engineering says, "I am here on a scholarship from my country and when I was given a choice between Britain and India, I chose India because the living expenses are far lower. Even after paying for the entire course I get a monthly allowance of Rs 5000 which in Britain could not have been possible".

A student from Ethiopia, Brook Juka added that the technical knowledge provided at IIT is of world class standards and he is personally content in choosing India as his mentor country. Interestingly, there are students who are seeking admission to India to become proficient in languages Hindi and English, both widely spoken in India. "I am here to learn Hindi which has a high demand in my country" opined Josep Antoni, a Spaniard enrolled in a Hindi course.

French student, Adiem Poret too expressed similarly that India allowed him to brush-up his English as it is the medium of instruction in most Indian institutes. "Indian culture is very colorful and that's what attracts a few of us down to this country. Foreign students at JNU celebrate all Indian festivals with utmost pomp and show and collect funds for the same in advance" said Iskander Abdulah, from Indonesia, former secretary of the Foreign Students Association, from Indonesia.

Interestingly, a big stride for international education has been made in reviving the concept of ancient Nalanda University.The proposed university near the ancient site will be fully residential. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen heads the panel of the new university. Singapore, China and Japan are likely to fund this endeavor. Even though the foreign students are pretty content about their choice of India, they complained about the snail pace of the visa application's processing.